College programs at Division I’s FCS level (formerly I-AA) have taken advantage of the coaching change at Northern Colorado and drawn players out-of-state. Two players who committed over the last week, Arvada West athlete Isaac Fairbairn and Cherry Creek offensive lineman Cassidy Curtis, spurned in-state programs for schools that were further from home.

Curtis, who originally committed to Eastern Washington before the holidays, opened the door to play in-state when he took an official visit to Northern Colorado on January 22.

But that trip wasn’t enough to sway him and he recommitted to Eastern Washington, the FCS national champions.

“There were more reasons pulling me there than Northern Colorado,” Curtis said.

The distance from home certainly was something that was considered but didn’t stop him from heading over 1,000 miles away to play for the Eagles.

“My family and I are incredibly close and my mom is the biggest person helping me choose (a school),” Curtis said. “She really didn’t want me to go that far away from home but came on both official visits. She even told me that Eastern Washington would be the best fit for me. That was incredibly hard for her to say.”

Fairbairn, on the other hand, will headed to the University of South Dakota.

He’d also been hearing from Northern Colorado, while CSU-Pueblo had extended an early scholarship offer. Fairbairn took his one and only official visit to South Dakota.

“I went out there with an open mind and came back very happy,” Fairbairn said.

2012 recruiting begins to heat up.

Signing Day 2011 is now only two days away, but college coaches are starting to show the junior class more and more attention.

Stanford offered Arvada West offensive lineman Paul Thurston his second scholarship on Friday. Thurston said he wants to make his final decision closer to next year’s signing day.

“I’m trying to hold out as long as I can,” Thurston said. “I want to take my official visit there. If I can wait, I will. I’ll see how long I can look at other schools so it’ll just depend.”

Elsewhere, Colorado State will host its first junior day for the class of 2012 on Feb. 12. Many of the top prep players in the junior class started to receive invitations last week.

Quick Hitters.

• Chaparral quarterback Andrew Loudenback had attention from Western State, Sioux Falls, Chadron State, and a handful of junior college programs before committing to Fort Lewis.

• Mullen offensive lineman Conor McKenna had offers on the table from Fort Lewis, CSU-Pueblo, and Sioux Falls, but an official trip this weekend helped Adams State land him.

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